| |
|
13. juli 2005
|
|
On Tuesday, as you will probably know by now, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Israel, killing three women and wounding 24 others.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber was identified as Ahmed Abu Khalil, an 18-year old member of PIJ and a resident of the West Bank town of Atil, just eight miles east of Netanya.
Shortly before Tuesday’s attack in Netanya, a 36-year old member of Islamic Jihad attempted to drive a car bomb into the Jewish settlement of Shavei Shomron in the West Bank. The bomber was captured after the explosives detonated prematurely, leaving him slightly injured.
I wonder if the London bomb attack has made any pro-Palestinian people in the UK reconsider their previous tolerance (if not support) for Palestinian terrorism?
9:38:30 PM 
|
|
Via Michael Totten, here's a year-old BBC article that should have totally demolished the idea that terrorists are poor and deprived.
Dr Andrew Silke, a UN advisor and forensic psychologist at Leicester University, says terrorism is a political, not a psychiatric diagnosis. [...]
All of the Al-Qaeda members studied came from middle or upper class backgrounds.
Two-thirds were college educated, a tenth had a postgraduate degree and more than seven out of 10 were married with children.
This also holds true for older terrorist organisations, from the IRA to Germany's Baader-Meinhof.
1:50:16 PM
|
|
The Muslim community in the West Yorkshire area is reeling after learning the four suicide bombers had grown up among them. All, at least the three identified, were born in Britain to parents who were from Pakistan and had built up respectable businesses in their new home country.
Hasib Hussain, 18, was the younger of two brothers whose family originated from Pakistan.
Their house in a sloping red-brick terrace block in Colenso Mount, Holbeck, Leeds, was sealed off by police for examination.
He had a troubled adolesence before he turned devoutly religious about two years ago and left for London last week.
His brother repeatedly tried to contact him on his mobile phone after the bombings and got no reply.
It was then that his father Mahmood, a factory worker, and mother, Maniza, contacted police to report him missing.
This, it appears, was a crucial breakthrough for the police investigation.
Shehzad Tanweer, 22, was the son of a local businessman, who locals said had been to university to study a sports science degree and trained in tai kwon do and judo.
He was born in Bradford and is believed to have attended Lawnswood comprehensive school in Leeds. According to friends he was non-political and shunned Muslim dress, preferring to wear jeans and T-shirts.[...]
Mr Tanweer Snr, who bought the property in 1990, runs the South Leeds Fishery fish and chip shop nearby. Azzy Mohamed, 21, who knew Shehzad Tanweer, said: "Shazzy is the best lad I have ever met. He's a top guy and a top lad.
"We play cricket together, he's a bowler and a batsman. He wouldn't do anything like this. He's from a very strong family.
"He went to university to be educated, he did a sports science degree. I saw him last week. Shehzad is a very kind person who would get along with anyone and anybody. He's the kind of guy who would condemn extremism."
That has turned out to be false.
The third identified bomber was older.
The man who planted the bomb at Edgware Road was named last night as Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, the married father of an eight-month-old baby, who is believed to have come from the Leeds area.
What kind of mindset makes a man with a little toddler leave his wife and little child to go on a suicide mission to murder totally random strangers?
And while all good people should make sure this does not make grounds for an anti-Muslim vendetta, the terror raises some very uncomfortable questions.
Police spokesmen yesterday spoke of the help they had received from "the communities". That British Muslims had volunteered information after the event is highly welcome. But it is inconceivable that, as four young men became sufficiently radicalised that they were prepared to immolate themselves and others, no one around them noticed. Someone - in a home, a mosque, a study group - must have had a suspicion of where things might be heading.
It might go without saying that Muslims, like all human beings, are overwhelmingly peaceable and neighbourly; also that Islam expresses many fine sentiments about non-violence and the protection of innocents. But it cannot go unsaid any longer that - for reasons which may be quite unconnected with the Islamic faith - Muslim communities harbour homicidal individuals who are committed to the destruction of the western way of life.
We must now demand that this community, and the faith leaders who insist Islam is a religion of peace, expose and expel the radical elements among them. To win the war on terror, we must stop the recruitment of young jihadis. There are active recruiters out there, and there is a flow of money coming in, however insignificant the sums. This is where western Europe must concentrate much of its anti-terror effort post 7/7.
1:13:42 PM
|
|
All four London suicide bombers were young British men of Pakistani origin.
FOUR friends from northern England have changed the face of terrorism by carrying out the suicide bombings that brought carnage to London last week.
It emerged last night that, for the first time in Western Europe, suicide bombers have been recruited for attacks. Security forces are coming to terms with the realisation that young Britons are prepared to die for their militant cause.
Three of the men lived in Leeds and the immediate fear is that members of a terrorist cell linked to the city are planning further strikes. The mastermind behind the attacks and the bombmaker are both still thought to be at large.
The man who planted the bomb at Edgware Road was named last night as Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, the married father of an eight-month-old baby, who is believed to have come from the Leeds area.
Two other terrorists were Hasib Hussain, 19, who bombed the bus in Tavistock Square, of Colenso Mount, Leeds, and Shehzad Tanweer, 22, the Aldgate bomber, who lived at Colwyn Road, Leeds.
Police are still trying to identify the fourth, whose remains are believed to be in the bombed Tube train carriage on the Piccadilly Line. It is thought that he comes from Luton.
Sad to say, I am not surprised.
Police has also found a bomb factory in Leeds, and more explosives in a car in Luton. At least two of the men had recently been to Pakistan.
An extensive hunt is ongoing for the person or persons thought to be the so-called "masterminds" behind the bonbings.
PS: It appears it is not finally confirmed the fourth bomber also died on the scene, but it appears likely.
This makes for the first suicide bombing attack in western Europe.
10:47:38 AM
|
|
Some unusual diet advice:
A US woman claims to have lost 33 pounds by eating nothing but McDonald's for 90 days.
Merab Morgan, of Henderson, North Carolina, began her diet because she found the Super Size Me film insulting.
It's what you eat, not where you eat it, obviously.
2:05:27 AM
|
|
This is a description of the Pandas' problems procreating:
Pandas have great difficulty reproducing. The Washington Post noted in March that Mei Xiang's efforts to mate had been rather ineffective:
"In past years, they've shown excellent sexual behavior but have been a bit out of sync," Lisa Stevens, the zoo's assistant curator for giant pandas, said yesterday. "We're very concerned about the lack of synchrony."
Translation: The male giant panda is eager, Stevens said, but has "alignment" problems; the female cries out to him loudly and displays other come-hither behavior, but then lies flat on her stomach.
As it turned out, the zoo had to resort to artificial insemination to get Mei Xiang knocked up; and it really was a now-or-never situation: "Giant pandas are capable of becoming pregnant for only a day or two once each year."
Apparently, it must be something in the water. A short time ago I pointed to a similar problem among Homo sapiens in Hong Kong.
"Some married couples are not familiar with their body parts," Wong was quoted as telling the Sunday Morning Post. "They don't know where their sex organs are.
"They don't know the physical changes associated with sexual response, like males getting an erection," she added.
Thanks to Soccerdad for pointing out the similarities here. Apologies to all involved.
1:27:46 AM
|
|
A transcript of the press briefing today (eh, yesterday) by the London police.
12:19:47 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 30.07.2005; 02:58:08.
|
|
|
